Abstract
In this study, inorganic stannite quaternary Cu2M(M = Ni, Co)SnS4 (CMTS) is explored as a low-cost, earth abundant, environmentally friendly and chemically stable hole transport material (HTM). CMTS nanoparticles were synthesized via a facile and mild solvothermal method and processed into aggregated nanoparticle inks, which were applied in n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The results show that Cu2NiSnS4 (CNiTS) is more promising as an HTM than Cu2CoSnS4 (CCoTS), showing efficient charge injection as evidenced by considerable photoluminescence quenching and lower series resistance from Nyquist plots, as well as higher power conversion efficiency (PCE). Moreover, the perovskite layer coated by the CMTS HTM showed superior environmental stability after 200 h light soaking in 50% relative humidity, while organic HTMs suffer from a severe drop in perovskite absorption. Although the obtained PCEs are modest, this study shows that the cost effective and stable inorganic CMTSs are promising HTMs, which can contribute towards PSC commercialization, if the field can further optimize CMTS energy levels through compositional engineering.
Highlights
Solar energy is an immensely abundant and clean renewable energy source and one of the most promising technologies to replace fossil fuels
We investigate the properties of the CNiTS and CCoTS particles using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis spectroscopy and utilize photoluminescence (PL) and impedance spectroscopy to assess whether the ir band energy alignment is suitable for using in perovskite solar cells (PSCs)
Of CNiTS and CCoTS are at −5.32, −3.87 eV and −5.15, −3.78 eV, respectively [38,39]. This means that the energy levels are well aligned with the valence band maximum (VBM) and conduction band minimum (CBM) of perovskite to facilitate efficient hole injection at the perovskite/hole transport material (HTM) interface, while blocking electrons
Summary
Solar energy is an immensely abundant and clean renewable energy source and one of the most promising technologies to replace fossil fuels. The photovoltaic (PV) market has long been dominated by silicon solar cells, but in the last decade organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained much ground due to the ir facile and cost effective solution-based fabrication. For perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells [4], rivalling silicon technology [5,6,7,8,9]. The main obstacle for PSCs towards commercialization now is the long-term device stability [10]. The selection of a suitable HTM will be very important in achieving long-term stability of PSCs [14].
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